Kids Nursery Rhymes to Develop Early Oral Reading and Counting Skills

Kids nursery rhymes had much value in helping our children in language development and simple counting. These traditional songs or poems had taught many generations of preschool and young children all over the world to make rhymes.When learning how to rhyme, we are unconsciously learning phonemic awareness. Phonemic awareness is the understanding that words are made up of a series of sound put together. It is critical for learning to read orally.

Classic Kids Nursery Rhymes

Hand and Finger Rhymes

Rhyme with action is also good for developing young kids coordinating skills. Get children to work their hands along while singing.

Itsy Bitsy Spider –

Suggested activity: Run your fingers along either the body or the arms of your child. Use fingers to show rain falling down. Swirl your arms to show the spider being washed out. Raise your palm to show the sun coming up. Run your fingers along either the body or the arms of your child again.

Click to Listen to Song

Itsy Bitsy Spider went up the water sproutDown came the rainand wash the spider outUp came the sun and dry up all the rainItsy Bitsy Spider went up the sprout again

Pat-a-cake -

Clap hands with your kid and as you go along the rhythm.

Pat-a-cake, Pat-a-cake, Baker’s man,Bake me a cake as fast as you can.Roll it, Prick it and Mark it with “B”.Put it in the oven for baby and me.

Number Rhymes or Math Jingles for Preschoolers

Preschoolers can start learning math from these rhymes too. Here are a few number rhymes for children to learn counting.

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1-2-3-4-5, Once I caught a fish alive6-7-8-9-10, then I let it go againWhy do you let it go?Because it bite my finger so.Which finger did it bite?This little finger on my right.

Ten little monkeys jumping on the bed,One felt down and knock its' head.Ma Ma called the doctor and the doctor said,"No more monkeys jumping on the bed."Nine little monkeys jumping on the bed,One felt down and knock its' head.Ma Ma called the doctor and the doctor said,"No more monkeys jumping on the bed."

(repeat by counting down from eight, seven, six, five, four, three,.. monkeys jumping on the bed.)

Bedtime Rhymes

Sing the Bedtime Rhymes as lullaby as you put your child to sleep.

Twinkle, Twinkle, little star -

Twinkle, Twinkle, little star,How I wonder what you are.Up above the world so high,Like a diamond in the sky.

Take a look at how you can gesture to your kid as you sing along....

Rock-a-Bye-Baby will be suitable if you are rock your child to sleep in your arms. My son loves this rhyme till this day. It brings back lovely memory of me cuddling him to sleep in my arms.

Click to Listen to Song

Rock-a-bye baby,In the tree top.When the wind blows,The cradle will rock.Smell the sweet blossoms,Sway in the trees,And swing in the branchesBlown by the breeze.Rock-a-bye baby,Lie down to sleep.Rest on a flower,Snuggle in deep.Watch baby spidersLearning to spin,While robins buildNests in tree-tops again.Rock-a-bye baby,How I love you.You’re my sweet giftFrom Heaven,‘tis true.Angels surround you,Keep you from harm,While God holds youSafely – rest in His arm.

* The above lyrics is just a guide. It may differ from song. You can create your own version if you like.

Rhyming activity is ideal for preschoolers as young kids like consistency and familiarity. Based on these familiar themes, we can expand to teach them other skills easily. They are confident in learning a new skill when material is familiar to them.

- Rhymes Lyrics to Learn Phonics/SoundStart with a few simple familiar rhymes. Point at the words in lyrics and get them to sing or rhymes along. This helps them in identifying the word with the sound.

- Introduce Book for ReadingExpand to more rhymes once they are familiar with the few. Get some classic or the famous mother goose nursery rhymes book. This could be the first step for you to introduce book for reading to your child.

- Expand Vocabulary from PicturesKids nursery rhymes pictures are useful resources. Children learn to identify the meaning of word and expand their vocabulary. They learn “humpty dumpty” is an egg; Jack is the name of a boy, Jill is the name of a girl and many more.

With strong phonemic awareness, familiarity of characters and related word in nursery rhymes, children can take this knowledge when learning how to spell.